Electrical outlets provide power to electrical plugs of various devices. For example, wall electrical outlets installed in the walls of homes and other structures are typically adapted to receive a standard three-pronged grounded plug having hot, neutral, and ground tines. Wall outlets are typically connected to the wiring of the home and housed within an insulative housing having a faceplate adapted to receive an electrical plug. Convenience outlets have housings configured as stand alone devices, referred to as power strips, or configured for non-wall mounting, such as an under-cabinet luminaire in the floor, or, in window sill as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,977. Because convenience outlets are often installed in areas with less available mounting space, the housings are often smaller and more compact than those of traditional wall outlets. In addition, convenience outlets may require different wiring techniques than those traditionally employed in wiring wall outlets.
While electrical outlets are desirable because they make electrical power readily available at convenient locations, accessibility raises safety concerns, such as the possibility that a child may insert an object into the outlet and be shocked. To prevent such incidents, tamper resistant (TR) electrical wall outlets, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,607, have been developed. TR outlets are increasingly used in new construction to comply with new buildin codes. In addition, there is growing interest in upgrading existing outlets with TR capability. Providing tamper-resistant capability to convenience outlets has proven difficult, however, due to the smaller housing and the wiring techniques employed in such arrangements.
Numerous desktop lamps and other electrical items in use today in homes and hotels today contain convenience outlets. As owners upgrade their electrical installations to satisfy safety codes, many owners will prefer to replace the current convenience outlet with a tamper resistant one, rather than replacing the entire desktop lamp or other electrical item. It would be desirable if this exchange could be accomplished by replacing the existing outlet with a tamper resistant convenience outlet within the desktop lamp or other electrical item without requiring modifications to the desktop lamp or other electrical item.
It is also often desirable to provide electrical power and lighting under cabinets, such as kitchen cabinets. For example, under-cabinet lighting is popular in contemporary kitchens, along with tile, granite or stainless-steel on the backsplash walls between the cabinets and the countertops. Electrical codes often require that electrical receptacles, rated for a minimum of 15 amp operation, be placed so that no spot on a kitchen counter, measured along the wall line, is more than 24″ from a receptacle. Receptacles installed in the backsplash wall may interfere with the clean appearance of the back splash wall and obstruct the design thereof. Additionally, the added thickness of tile, granite, or other material complicates the installation of the receptacles in the backsplash wall.
A common solution to the dilemma of providing both power and light under-cabinet is to install a multiple outlet-strip underneath the cabinet and track or rope lighting parallel to the outlet-strip. For example, in prior art arrangements, power may be provided by outlets mounted in the backsplash of the cabinets and lights attached beneath the cabinets. Some prior art teaches outlet assemblies mounted beneath a cabinet, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,694 or light assemblies mounted under cabinets, such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,566. While fit for their intended purposes, these prior art arrangements are difficult to install and fail to provide both convenient plug outlets and lights that can be easily installed and wired. While the end result provides lighting under the cabinets and removes the outlets from the backsplash wall, the installation is cumbersome, and labor intensive.
Alternatively, many under-cabinet light fixtures are available with a single convenience outlet incorporated in the housing. However, because the convenience outlet is powered by the same circuit as the under cabinet light itself, these convenience outlets are limited to operation at 12 amps or less; and thus the single outlet within the fixture's housing will not satisfy the code requirement as described above.